Names
by Rio Kamishiro
Summary: Rei realizes one day that Yuma, whom he considers his best friend, refuses to call Rei by his first name... it bothers him, but what can he do to change that? Can he think positive, as usual?


Morning in Heartland, Yuma was rushing off to school, like he usually did.

And of course, per the normal school day, Rei Shingetsu was there waiting for him, just so he could walk to school with Yuma.

"Yuma-kuuun! Please wait!" Right on schedule, Rei, came running down the stairs and right next to Yuma.

"Shingetsu! Hey, glad to see we actually won't be late today!" Yuma smiled, beginning to walk on ahead.

_Shingetsu_… It wasn't hard for Rei to realize that Yuma only called _him_ by his last name. Anyone could tell, he even called strangers by their first names… why was Rei any different?

"Hey, there's Tetsuo! Tetsuo, hey-!" Running on ahead, Rei began to chase after Yuma, shouting, "Please wait, Yuma-kun!" But yet again, hearing his only real friend saying the first names of everyone else but not him… dug daggers into his heart.

Finally arriving at school, the three ran into Kotori.

"Hey, Yuma! On time for once today." She giggled, teasing Yuma like usual.

Shrugging, Yuma retorted, "Come on, Kotori! I'm usually only late because I don't have an alarm!"

Rei observed silently, Yuma laughing and talking with Kotori… another person Yuma casually spoke to and addressed with their first name. Rei wasn't exactly _jealous_, but he was more… discouraged.

_Yuma-kun just probably needs more time to hang around me. It would make sense for him to need more time. I'll remain positive..!_

"Hey, there's Shark! Shaaaark!"

"Yuma-kun, wait-!"

School was soon over and Rei continued to follow Yuma around, much like a baby chick would. The more he followed his good friend, the more he realized that even though he thought they were close… the distance between them was really formidable.

Walking home together, Rei's pace of walking suddenly got slower. Slow enough for Yuma to realize Rei was falling behind, causing him to turn around. "Shingetsu..? You feeling sick?"

"Eh?" He looked up, puzzled from Yuma's reaction.

"Well I mean, you suddenly started walking slow. Something wrong?"

"Ah, no, sorry! Nothing is wrong." He put on a fake smile, continuing to say _he was fine_.

But even Yuma wasn't dumb enough to believe that. Sensing something was wrong, he walked over and put his forehead on Rei's, while speaking to him, "Hm… no fever. Is it maybe that you aren't sick?"

"Y-Yuma-kun…!" Rei started becoming flustered after such close contact with Yuma.

"Hey, I get it! You're depressed about that test we took, eh?"

"No, please wait a minute, I'm not-"

"Did someone do something to you?"

"Yuma-kun, it's nothing like-"

"Well, a duel can cheer anyone up!"

Getting more and more red, Rei finally stopped this long chain and shouted, "YUMA-KUN! Please, it's not any of that…!"

Taken slightly aback, Yuma backed away a little, curious to see what was the matter.

"The real problem here… is myself. I'm sorry for worrying you, Yuma-kun. But I'm fine, so—"

"… Shingetsu."

"Huh…?" Suddenly, Yuma took Rei's hand and started to quickly run, hand in hand with him. Rei had no idea where he was taking him, but he didn't mind. "Yuma-kun, please wait! Aren't we going too fast-"

With a sudden halt, the two stopped right by a lake. A very pretty one… the surroundings were quiet, and it looked peaceful.

"Shingetsu, I sometimes come here by myself… when I'm feeling a little blue. I don't think anyone else knows of this, but hey, now you do." He laughed scratching his head.

Rei looked into the water, seeing his reflection… which showed his sad face. He wanted to change that, after all, he always wanted to think positive.

Not paying attention, he accidentally was leaning in a little too close to the water…

"Wh…. Whoa-!" Falling into the lake, Yuma quickly ran over towards him; a little too late. Rei fell into the water, as Yuma shouted, "**Rei**!" and dove right in to make sure he could swim or was okay.

_Rei..? He just shouted my name…_

He thought, falling deeper into the lake… until a strong hand took hold of his shoulder, pulling him back up to land.

Finally getting back onto the grass, both started gasping and coughing out some water… and their clothes were totally soaked.

"Sh-Shingetsu… you okay..?" He coughed a little more, hoping Rei was alright.

"I-I'm sorry, Yuma-kun… I didn't mean to fall like that…!"

"Don't apologize, I just want to make sure you're okay!"

"I am _now_." Rei beamed, recalling that Yuma finally said his first name. It felt special, hearing it said for the first time. No one else had ever said it before… and the fact that his best friend did… was really something.

"Whew, good… wait, do you mean your problem is gone now? Great! So, what cured it?"

"It was-"

"Some deep thinking?"

Chuckling, Rei shook his head and quickly responded with, "It was _you_, Yuma-kun."

Looking confused, Yuma had no idea what he did to make Rei feel better. "Me? Did I do something?"

"It's okay if you don't know, thanks to you, Yuma-kun… I'm going to keep on thinking positive!"

"Wait, Shingetsu, what did I do? Tell me!"

"Ahaha, come on, we better get home!"

"Shingetsuuuu!"

Yuma ran after Rei, not remembering that when he was so worried about his friend, he called out to him without a second thought… Rei really meant a lot to him, and now Rei could feel confident in that.

It wouldn't be long until Yuma finally started calling him by his name casually.


End file.
